I was born and raised in the Suburbs of Chicago. I lived in the city through University. I studied abroad in Luzern, Switzerland, where I met the woman I would later marry. I moved back after my degree, first to Schaffhausen for a spell, then to Bern.
I’ve worked for a number of agencies across the country, and I’ve also freelanced quite a bit. I have a studio down by the river with some good friends of mine, where I build various apps and platforms with the various web stacks. I’ve been lucky enough to make some cool things with some cool people.
It’s pricey here. I’ve taken up work at a startup here in town to cover my costs. I have thoroughly enjoyed learning Swiss German and its various dialects – I’m told I still have an eastern accent from time to time. The river is beautiful during the summer.
I do think about Chicago often. I miss it dearly. The startup scene is burgeoning here, but it’s still Switzerland. Bern is somehow too nice to leave. Small government, applied correctly, is a lovely thing. We pay through the nose in taxes, but the system is there for you when you need it.
Still, I’m a stranger in a strange land. And simultaneously at home. A part of my own cyberpunk novella with mountains.
I built the first version of LICK in 2015 because I was frustrated with the (then) state of distributed note taking. And because I wanted Sublime Text-like editing capabilities. I... didn't really have a business plan, but I guess I had hoped to retrofit features into later versions. Being a (not) starving bootstrapping developer filled a fun space in my life, but then life got in the way.
I made the 'new' version to prove a point last year, but it's riddled with bugs and flaws. I still use it religiously to plan my smaller projects, and my shopping. If I had to do it all again, I would have shipped sooner. Duh. Maybe someday, it'll dethrone the mighty Evernote – but until then, it's my glass castle... :)
Almost 2 years ago, I quit my cushy dev job at an ad agency to do just this. I was bored to tears, and the thought of the work that really interested me languishing at home while I hacked away on yet another promotional website drove me batty.
I got lucky and was able to live rent free for a few months, sleeping in guest rooms and couches while I travelled / hacked around the midwest. Living is expensive, make sure you have things budgeted properly. It’ll save a lot of unpleasant surprise down the road.
Unless you’re building something that’s immediately profitable, you will take on outside work. But that’s okay – you now get to decide what you work on.
Don’t expect anyone to understand your path. Sure, you’ll get the few pats on the back for being ‘courageous’, but those closest to you will think you’re nuts. If you have a girlfriend / wife, this adds a significant stressor to your relationship.
People like Levels make this lifestyle look easy. It’s not. ‘Ramen profitable’ has the same romantic appeal as a ‘starving artist’, but when you’ve got $54.20 in your bank account to pay 7k in bills that were due last month, and no money coming in; it loses a bit of its lustre.
This life is hard. It is often lonely. But if you play your cards right, it is fun. I unequivocally have the coolest job in the world – and I don’t regret a step I’ve taken.
Coming up for air after a deep dive with Keystone.js – as you all have invested your time, I owe you an answer:
I’ve decided to go with GitLab going forward. It’s free, has integrated well with my team, runs itself in the cloud with the option of being run locally, and has some super promising stuff in the pipes. I’m excited to see what else it can do!
Before I get to the runners-up: massive thanks to everyone who participated here. This is a super cool community that I’m lucky to be able to tap into; and watching various well-thought arguments and rockstars give their two cents has been a real treat.
Bitbucket is the service that, unfortunately, I always seem to hear all of about 15 minutes too late. I see Bitbucket about on par with Github between what they offer – the biggest thing that it has going against it, then, is its lack of proliferation. Perhaps it’s that Github locked up their UI earlier, perhaps it’s just what I’ve been grandfathered into. But all too often, it proves to be the path of least resistance for a significant enough of the dev population – and that’s a good sign they’re doing something right.
Having said that, I would love to see this balance shift. :D Please, prove me wrong!
Rhodecode is definitely something to keep your eye on. Squabbles aside, it looks like they have a lot of really dedicated people working on something that looks extremely promising. Please keep fighting the good fight!
Again, endless thanks to everyone who jumped in here. I’m on skype @mike.of.the.jungle, if you’d like to say hi.
Hey all – long time lurker, first time poster – I’m about to embark on my own odyssey (again), and it’s absolutely wonderful / enlightening / empowering to hear the experiences of others, both positive and negative. Thank you all for your words of wisdom, I could not be more excited about this next step!
I’ve worked for a number of agencies across the country, and I’ve also freelanced quite a bit. I have a studio down by the river with some good friends of mine, where I build various apps and platforms with the various web stacks. I’ve been lucky enough to make some cool things with some cool people.
It’s pricey here. I’ve taken up work at a startup here in town to cover my costs. I have thoroughly enjoyed learning Swiss German and its various dialects – I’m told I still have an eastern accent from time to time. The river is beautiful during the summer.
I do think about Chicago often. I miss it dearly. The startup scene is burgeoning here, but it’s still Switzerland. Bern is somehow too nice to leave. Small government, applied correctly, is a lovely thing. We pay through the nose in taxes, but the system is there for you when you need it.
Still, I’m a stranger in a strange land. And simultaneously at home. A part of my own cyberpunk novella with mountains.